PP’s Trump Oil Price Manipulation Going Mainstream?

I’ll be heading out in less than an hour, but it’s worth contemplating the implications of what’s going on with oil prices. Recall what Maggie Haberman told Mario yesterday:

Senior cabinet officials responsible for dealing with the economic fallout weren’t even present for some of the key discussions before the strikes on Iran.

How crazy is that? Or is there a reason behind that, like, their input was considered irrelevant, undesirable, whatever. So now … follow the link to the 6 minute Tucker video:

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

2h

Hoo boy. @TuckerCarlson just mainstreamed my theory that the Trump admin are manipulating oil prices by hack text-recognition AI trading algorithms. I first shared this theory with I Fucking Love Australia

It’s a safe bet that Tucker ran this past some knowledgeable people before running with it.

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

2h

Well, it looks like Tucker’s source is an @UnzReview article that cites my two interviews with @MarioNawfal . The internet sure is a crazy way to get difficult-to-understand theories mainstreamed!

 

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

6m

Looks like markets are starting to crack. Not clear if the Whale of Hormuz can prevent people seeing reality for much longer…

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

1h

Yikes!

zerohedge @zerohedge

2h

Here we go again:

Murban futures surged to as much as $112.56 a barrel, a rise of 26% from Wednesday. The rise was much more than other benchmarks including Brent and WTI.

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

I truly wonder will we ever find out who is on the short side of this trade. 

Quote

HFI Research @HFI_Research

5h

Close to all time high Brent short positioning and we have 11 million b/d of shut-in. What did you expect?

The fucking twilight zone to continue?

I guess the question is, What happens on the other side of this? It probably won’t look good:

Here’s where I disagree with Maggie Haberman. True enough, Trump 2.0 is “a presidency unlike any other”—certainly in degree. The degree of corruption is, if not unprecedented, certainly pretty much off the charts, as the WSJ is now pointing out. But whereas Haberman terms Trump 2.0 an “imperial presidency”—as if one 80 year old man were responsible for everything that we see going on, including all the above—that characterization shows, at best, a bit of mental laziness. At worst, it shows, well, you know what.

Trump Says U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal ‘Subject to’ Normalizing Relations With Israel

President Trump’s statement followed concerns in Israel over the deal, and could create a major roadblock to the agreement.

It seems totally obvious that what we’re seeing is an oligarchic presidency. Doesn’t mean that Trump’s not an important player, but there are people who could pull the plug on him.

Notice the role of Charles Kushner, Jared’s father and current U.S. ambassador to France. From Wikipedia:

In 2005, Kushner was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering, and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, which he served in the Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery. As a convicted felon, he was also disbarred in three states. He later received a pardon issued by his son’s father-in-law, President Trump, on December 23, 2020.^[4][5] Kushner has donated significant amounts to Trump’s campaigns. Previously, he was a major Democratic party donor.^[6][7] In 2025, he was nominated by President Trump to serve as United States ambassador to France during his second administration. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 19, 2025, by a vote of 51–45.

It is dangerous to be a Jewish artist in France. On Saturday, the well-known DJ Barbara Butch was forced to abandon her performance during a music festival in the Alpine city of Grenoble.

Butch is an icon of the LGBT movement and best-known, among international audiences, for appearing in the “Last Supper” skit during the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On that occasion the 45-year-old Butch infuriated conservative figures on both sides of the Atlantic with her irreverence. Donald Trump labeled the parody a “disgrace,” as did the Vatican, which deplored “the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions.”

On Saturday, it was the far-left who took offense to the presence of Butch. Encouraged by Jean-Luc Melenchon’s la France Insoumise party (LFI), about 100 pro-Palestine activists hurled abuse at Butch as she took to the stage. Soon glass bottles were being thrown and after twenty minutes the city council closed down the concert “to ensure the safety of the audience [and] the crew.”

Butch is Jewish, and earlier this year she signed a tribune in support of a bill that had been tabled to address the rise in France of “renewed forms of anti-Semitism.” The legislation was supported by the right and some centrists, but it was furiously opposed by most on the left who said it would prevent criticism of Israel. Consequently the bill was suspended.

Butch hasn’t been forgiven by the far-left for supporting the bill and in the eyes of many has gone from hero to villain. One member of LFI who was at the concert, Allan Brunon, a local councilor, said the party was “extremely proud to have taken part in this peaceful demonstration.”

A poll in 2024 reported that 92 percent of French Jews believed LFI had played a role in the recent rise of anti-Semitism in the Republic. Things have got worse since, not just for ordinary members of the public but also for artists.

Last year the Jewish stand-up comedian Rosa Bursztein was targeted for anti-Semitic abuse, and in November pro-Palestine activists stormed a performance in Paris by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The protestors let off flares in the auditorium and scuffled with members of the audience.

Manon Aubry, a senior figure within LFI, refused to condemn the violence, saying that the musicians “represent the Israeli state [which] commits war crimes.”

On Monday the newspaper Le Monde published an op-ed by Barbara Butch, in which she said that “a line had been crossed” on Saturday evening: “The line separating protest from coercion, disagreement from intimidation, speech from violence. They were no longer responding to an artist; they were driving her off the stage.”

These comments were echoed by Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF). He accused the far-left of exploiting the Palestinian cause to “terrorize the cultural world and target Jewish artists… the aim is simple: to subject artists and culture to LFI’s political agenda.”

Catherine Pégard, the Culture Minister, has promised to meet Barbara Butch in the coming days to “reaffirm our unwavering support for artistic freedom and the values of the Republic.”

“Support” was the word used on Monday by Charles Kushner, America’s Jewish ambassador to France, as he hosted one of France’s most prominent Jewish politicians. Sarah Knafo, the No. 2 in Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest party, has been warning for many months about the resurgence in anti-Semitism. On Monday Kushner offered his “support for the French Jewish community.”

Last year Kushner accused Emmanuel Macron in a letter of turning a blind eye to the rampant anti-Semitism. “I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it,” he explained to the president.

Kushner’s comments were not well received. A foreign ministry statement described them as “unacceptable” and the ambassador was summoned for a dressing down. It is easier for Macron’s administration to shoot the messenger rather than confront a crisis that is spiraling out of control.

Kushner warned Macron that “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized.”

To that list can now be added the intimidation of artists. No Jew is safe in Emmanuel Macron’s France.

Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

https://spectator.com/article/jewish-artists-are-no-longer-safe-in-france/

South Africa, one of the left’s favorite countries, turns out to be not so favorable to immigrants  or birthright citizenship.

Chidimma Adetshina has clapped back at calls for her to go back to Nigeria, amid a deportation order by the Department of Home
Affairs.

 

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Chidimma Adetshina is fighting to remain in South Africa. Images via Instagram

Former Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidimma Adetshina, has clapped back at calls for her to leave South Africa amid her legal battle to challenge a deportation order issued by the Department of Home Affairs.

The beauty queen appeared in the Cape Town Magistrates Court this week in a follow-up after her arrest last month by immigration officials after illegally entering the country.

The 25-year-old was born in South Africa to two foreign nationals – Nigerian father Michael Adetshina and Mozambican mother Anabelo Rungo, who is facing separate criminal charges of identity fraud for registering her daughter’s birth with fraudulent documents.

Chidimma was declared a prohibited person by the department in December 2024, and her South African ID and passports were declared invalid.

CHIDIMMA ADETSHINA: ‘I WON’T GO’

In the comments section of her social media posts, Chidimma Adetshina has continued to clap back at her critics in light of a deportation order for her and her young son.

Many of Chidimma’s critics have reminded her of her comments about not wanting to return to South Africa during a trip to Nigeria in 2024.

The beauty queen argued that she had been misquoted and had said that she was “not going back”, in place of “never going back”.

She added, “Stop frustrating my life”.

When told to “go home” to Nigeria, Chidimma replied: “I said I don’t want to…Is it by force?”

MIXED REACTIONS FROM NIGERIANS

Chidimma Adetshina’s legal battle to remain in South Africa has also made headlines in Nigeria across several blogs.

While some Nigerians have supported her bid to challenge the Department of Home Affairs, others have shunned her…

@thalia_hanita: “Embarrassing to defend her…after supporting her against South Africa, she still went back”

@jay01960: “She shamed us Nigerians, now she must face the music”.

@jobe5780: “We accepted her wholeheartedly. BUT she’s fighting tooth and nail to be South African, and South Africans don’t even like her as Nigerians do!”

IS CHIDIMMA ADETSHINA A SOUTH AFRICAN OR NOT?

Although Chidimma Adetshina was born in Soweto in 2001, South Africa does not grant unconditional birthright citizenship under the South African Citizenship Act of 1995.

Neither of her parents, Mozambican mother Anabelo Rungo nor Nigerian father Michael Adetshina, is a South African citizen or held permanent residency at the time of her birth.

In 2024, an investigation by the Department of Home Affairs discovered prima facie evidence that suggested that Chidimma’s mother had committed identity theft and had registered her birth in South Africa by using fraudulent documents.

A year later, Rungo was arrested and charged with contravening the Immigration Act and the Identification Act.

By default, due to her relationship with her mother, both women and Chidimma’s son, born to a Nigerian foreign national, were stripped of their South African IDs and passports.

According to legal experts, Chidimma could find a pathway to remain in South Africa under the Citizenship Act, which states that children born to foreign nationals without permanent residency may apply for citizenship at age 18, provided they can prove they have lived in the country continuously since birth.